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Gold species on an oxide support possess variable electronic structures via charge transition so as to increase their chemical redox activity. They are also viably promising for use to enhance gas-sensing response when being exploited in a solid state gas sensor. The synthesis method of the gold-loaded materials plays a crucial role in the functionality. In this paper, we report two types of gold/tin oxide based nanopowders prepared by co-precipitation method and by deposition-precipitation method, respectively. They were evaluated as sensing elements in a semiconductor carbon monoxide (CO) gas sensor. Effects of the material type and CO concentration on sensor response were investigated. Their structural characterizations were done by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Results demonstrate the surface gold species effective to facilitate CO oxidation in gas atmosphere and promote low-temperature sensor performance.

The authors report the study of the dependence of the device performance of polymer solar cells based on single 50-nm heterojunction poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methylester (P3HT/PCBM) layer on annealing process. Annealing before and after cathode deposition were performed for comparison. In the case of post-annealing at 150¢XC for 60 min., the device attains a conversion efficiency of 4.9%, a fill factor of 53 %, and an open-circuit voltage of 0.67 V. These values are comparable with the highest values reported previously. The annealing process is expected to modify the network morphology of the P3HT/PCBM layer. This study demonstrates that it is possible to attain good solar cell performance with the combination of single thin active layer and post-annealing treatment. This may open up an opportunity to fabricate tandem polymer solar cells.

In the study, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) of CdSe nanocrystals have been demonstrated effective as the light energy harvesting assemblies in solar cells. Colloidal CdSe QDs were synthesized by the one-pot approach and linked through a surface modifier onto titania (TiO2) nanoparticles. The TiO2-CdSe composite, while employed as the photoanode in a photoelectrochemical apparatus, exhibited a higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (3-fold) than the TiO2 alone, and also a higher stability for photocurrent generation, according to photocurrent transient responses. The optical absorbance and photoluminescence of the CdSe colloid showed a blue shift in the absorption edge with decreasing the particle size (band energy gap shifts from 2.0 to 2.19 eV), suggesting a quantum size effect. The CdSe particle size was determined up to 5 nm by a transmission electron microscopy. A scheme describing the charge carrier rectification for the coupled semiconductor system is proposed.

An outbreak of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus pyoderma occurred in the nursery of a tertiary-care referral center. All strains retrieved from the outbreak, including one from a nurse's infected finger, were typed by arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction and automated ribotyping. The results indicated that the spread of the outbreak was probably facilitated by contamination of the nurse with paronychia.

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